MANILA, Philippines — A labor group on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court En Banc's directive for respondents, including the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR) and the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), to comment on a petition challenging the freezing and subsequent injunction of Wage Order No. NCR-27.
The Federation of Free Workers (FFW), a labor organization representing workers, and other labor petitioners filed the petition, docketed as G.R. No. E-07950, which seeks to challenge the restraint of the wage order granting a P85 daily wage increase to minimum wage workers in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The wage increase is scheduled to be implemented in two tranches, P60 per day effective July 25, 2026, and another P25 effective Jan. 20, 2027.
Lawyer Sonny Matula, counsel for the FFW and the other labor petitioners, welcomed the Supreme Court's action, saying it indicated that the Court was taking cognizance of their case.
"This is good news. Now the SC is taking cognizance of our case," Matula said.
Matula said that the petitioners believe the wage increase is consistent with the principles of social justice, which he said require greater protection for those with less.
"Those who have less in life should have more in law as social justice mandates," he said.
He said the restraint of the wage increase in favor of employers amounted to "social justice in reverse."
"For workers, P85 is not an abstraction. It means food, transportation, medicine, rent, and support for their families," Matula said.
He added that every day the increase remains restrained means another day workers are unable to receive a benefit granted through the wage-setting processes established by law.
The labor petitioners said they respect the judicial process and will await the respondents' comments and the Supreme Court's further action.
"We remain confident that the Court will resolve the jurisdictional issues and uphold the integrity of the Labor Code's special wage-setting mechanism," Matula said.
He described the Supreme Court's directive as a "silver lining" for workers awaiting the wage increase.
"The workers may say, 'We waited so long,' and the SC directive is a silver lining that is coming. Let the law speak — and let the P85 wage increase flow," Matula said.
